The European Committee of the Regions (CoR) is one of the two advisory bodies of the EU, composed of elected representatives at local and regional level, drawn from all the Member States.
The CoR allows regions and cities to participate formally in the development of EU legislation. The European Commission, the Council of the EU and the European Parliament should consult the CoR when drafting legislation on matters related to local and regional administration, such as health, education, employment, social policy, economic and social cohesion, transport, energy and climate change.
When the CoR receives a legislative proposal, it drafts and adopts an opinion and sends it to the relevant EU institutions. In addition, the CoR also issues opinions on its own initiative.
The outermost regions have 3 permanent members in the CoR, namely the President of the Autonomous Community of the Canary Islands, the Presidents of the Autonomous Regions of the Azores and Madeira as well as the President of the Regional Council of Reunion island and Guadeloupe.
The active participation of ORs in the CoR makes this body an attentive spokesperson defending the reality of those regions most remote from mainland Europe, especially through regularly introducing amendments in its draft opinions.
Since 1994, opinions on the outermost regions have been adopted: